The Day has Come

[Fernpaw]

((Mentors and other apprentices are welcome to come, unless Tikker has any objections.))

It was still dark when amber eyes gazed outside the warrior's den. Quietly the she-cat stood and stretched her limbs before padding outside. It was misting in the muddy clearing this morning for once. Not thinking that the better weather would last the russet cat wriggled into the apprentice's den. Even in the dim light of dawn her apprentice's spotted pelt was easy to discern from all of the other sleeping forms.

Padding softly she walked to where he was sleeping and lifted one claw to prod him awake. The warrior poked his speckled flank not very gently with her claw, but not forceful enough to draw blood however. When Russetfur was satisfied that he was awake she beckoned with her long for him to follow and padded back out into the dreary morning light. She would start his first day with the dawn patrol and then some battle training. Hunting and more battle training would be after sun high today also if there was time.

While the red cat waited for her apprentice she walked slowly over to the fresh kill pile. She picked a soddened crow off of the pile and settled under a sapling pine to eat her prey. Russetfur ate slowly thinking about her disappointment the day before. Instantly her claws slid out and tore at the muddy ground beneath her. It was so unfair, she deserved that position, how could StarClan do that? She never could have been deputy before, but there was no rule that said a leader had to have an apprentice before receiving the name star. It was only implied, but there were times when there was no deputy to follow in the leader's paw prints. The dark pointed cat sighed angrily, sliding her claws back in. Well it did not matter any more, StarClan had made their choice for the moment. Soon though she would prove her worth and rise to the coveted spot as leader one season soon.

Musing over and her fill eaten the cat licked pieces off of her white whiskers with her tongue. Other cats were now beginning to stir, no doubt they would also be on that mornings dawn patrol.

[Tikker]

While Leopardpaw slept, he thought of his mother, and his brother; the same ones that weren't there with him anymore. The spotted apprentice had always blamed himself for his brother's death; for if Leopardpaw hadn't lead him outside the Camp, that fox wouldn't have noticed them.

Owlkit would have been an apprentice by this time also, but after he died, Leopardpaw had vowed to obey the laws and words of the warriors. The apprentice started to shift in his sleep as he saw Owlkit's white pelt.

Suddenly, his eyes shot open as he felt a sharp prod against his side; looking up he saw his ginger she-cat mentor, Russetfur. Giving a quick, large yawn, Leopardpaw rose to his paws, and streatched the sleep out.

Following his mentor out of the den, careful not to awake his den-mates, Leopardpaw walked over to the camp entrance, took a seat and wrapped his tail around his paws. Watching his mentor eat a piece of prey; Leopardpaw wasn't really hungry, it was the start of Leaf-bare and he would rather not eat.

For he believed he wasn't going to make a good warrior.

[Fernpaw]

"You should eat, today is going to be a long one, but if you would rather not then fine. I just don't want to hear and complaints later." The she-cat fixed amber eyes onto her apprentice in a stare that meant business. When he still decided not to move she got up and started for the thorn tunnel that lead outside into the dripping pine forest.

The other members of the dawn patrol padded after the she-cat. The small patrol headed for the ThunderClan boarder at the half bridge and work their way up and around the territory back to the camp, except that Ruesstfur and Leopardpaw would divert and go down toward the Twoleg nest where a nice training hollow was located.

As the patrol approached the boarder with ThunderClan Ruesstfur held out her tail in front of Leopardpaw to stop her apprentice.

"Now tell me, Leopardpaw, who do you smell? Is the scent fresh, or stale?"

The red brown she-cat waited expectantly for the correct answer. The spotted tom was a quick cat so this question would be no problem for him. Of course if it was for some reason then the problem would quickly be fixed.

((Blah, horrible, I must have writer's block today.))

[Tikker]

"Is the scent fresh or stale?"

Leopardpaw took in the scents of the forest from the other side of the border, that from what he was told, led into ThunderClan Territory. Closing his eyes, he thought for a few moments about who he scented.

"Well Russetfur; besides you, me, and the rest of the patrol, I believe the scent isn't as fresh as it could be, and that the ThunderClan cats havn't checked the borders in a couple of days."

The golden spotted tom looked expectantly at his mentor, hoping had gotten the right answer, for he didn't know who the scents belonged to in ThunderClan, he only knew the ones of ShadowClan.

The sun was just coming up as he was speaking, and he wondered what his mentor had in store for him that day. The apprentice didn't want to tell his mentor that he had eaten before she had woken up and gone back to sleep, since he knew that Russetfur wouldn't take kindly to him wasting her time eating.

He pawed the ground, waiting for her to speak or something instead of just narrowing her eyes at him. He wanted to be a good warrior, for both him and his dead brother, but honestly wished he didn't have her for a mentor.

[Fernpaw]

"Well Russetfur; besides you, me, and the rest of the patrol, I believe the scent isn't as fresh as it could be, and that the ThunderClan cats haven’t checked the borders in a couple of days."

The cold hearted warrior smiled and gently touched her tail tip to her apprentice's shoulder for just a heart beat before she flicked it away and curled it around her paws. There was a slight glow in her hard amber eyes as she looked at the speckled tom before her.

"Very good Leopardpaw, exactly," the red she-cat meowed with a little pride in her voice. Then more gruffly she added, "now come on, let's go. We have much more to do today."

Stiffly the warrior got to her feet and followed the patrol, which was now done with renewing the scent markers. Russetfur chided herself for being so warm with her apprentice, that part of her was gone now, it was easier to live a hard, cold lie than to face the warmth and pain of love again. Bitterly she sealed herself within the steel mask which protected her most vulnerable side. Her heart was black now and the russet colored warrior was convinced there was no going back. A malicious glint replaced the warmth that had been there mere heartbeats before.

The patrol continued the walk around the whole of ShadowClan territory without much to report. When the dawn patrol reached the RiverClan boarder Russetfur again asked her apprentice what he smelled. She also asked Leopardpaw if the scent was stale or fresh. The she-cat waited again for his response, knowing that the question was stupid, for the apprentice had already proved himself to be smart, or at least having paid attention to some nursery tales. Still, she knew he would be a good warrior when he was through with his training, but she would make him great! Of this much Russetfur was certain even in these uncertain times.

[Tikker]

The life in the swamplands that his Clan called home was minimal as leaf-bare was setting in and prey would be scarce soon as well. Leopardpaw watched the ginger fur of his mentor as she padded in front of him. The young tom hated that his fur was different then all others; he was a golden color with black spots, a pelt that was most seen in other Clans.

His fur was too light for ShadowClan, it would always be hard for him to hunt if the sunlight came through as the prey he stalked would see him sooner than he could probably find a moment of attack. Although one good thought came out of it, he heard the very old stories of the ancient and mighty three Clans; LionClan, TigerClan, and his namesake, LeopardClan. It was the only thing that kept him happy about it.

All the thinking to himself, Leopardpaw didn't noticed where they were until Russetfur, his mentor, had stated they were at the RiverClan border, and she again asked him what he scented. Taking in the scents of the other Clan he drew back at the smell of it; he was so used to ShadowClan scent that he disliked the other Clans of their stench.

"Well," Leopardpaw paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "I believe Russetfur, that a RiverClan patrol was just here, they might have made their rounds here lately just last night. Since this scent is much fresher than ThunderClan's." Turning his gaze back on his mentor, he drifted into thought of his last answer, and kept his face straight.

Leopardpaw had heard stories from past apprentices about Russetfur; she didn't take lightly to wrong answers and he prayed to StarClan he was right again. He wanted to learn from his mistakes but not in a way that would make his mentor angry at him.

Taking his gaze away from the ginger she-cat, Leopardpaw looked back into RiverClan's territory incase he had to answer another question, but mainly because he didn't want to look at his mentor incase he was wrong.

[Fernpaw]

Russetfur waited for the spotted cat's reply with mild annoyance for his day dreaminess. For some reason her apprentice had a hard time looking her in the eye. Well she would address the problem later today, for so far he had pleased her that morning with his performance.

"I believe Russetfur, that a RiverClan patrol was just here, they might have made their rounds here lately just last night. Since this scent is much fresher than ThunderClan's."

The she-cat's whiskered maw twitched in a bit of a smile before she covered the gesture with a slight cough. "Good, now that you know the boarders and exterior of the territory I expect you to stay within them unless otherwise instructed, got it? Now come on Leopardpaw, its best that we get back to camp for a quick bite to eat before we continue with your training. I want to get through the basics before sunset," Russetfur mewed briskly.

As the red warrior started to head back to cam she decided to see just how much her apprentice knew of the surrounding clans. A general knowledge of the three rival clans could prove useful in battle or some other situation.

"Okay Leopardpaw, tell me about Windclan, what sort of prey do they normally eat? also tell me some of their inherent physical description. Lastly, why might it be a good idea for a cat to know this of a rival clan, even one so far away?"

[Tikker]

Leopardpaw gave a faint smile as he stared off into RiverClan's territory at the fact that he was right again; that and Russetfur seemed to be complimenting him; that or she's pretending to make him think he's doing good. Which from what he heard from the elders, that was very possible.

Camp. That's where the spotted tom wanted to go most of all, for his paws had been hurting since they got to the RiverClan border. My first day and I'm already complaining, I hope Russetfur doesn't find out at all, I'd be in trouble; Leopardpaw thought to himself before following his ginger mentor.

Moments later, he was asked yet another question; or atleast another three questions. What did she actually think he knew everything? He only knew things that the elders had told him when he was a kit. WindClan was his specialty, as he heard stories about a dark cat named Brokenstar and the things he did to his Clan.

"WindClan, well Russetfur, as we don't border with and they are located across the lake from us, I'd have to say I don't know anything, hardly. Although, WindClan mostly eat rabbits as they are the leanest of the Clans, as well as the swiftest, but that's only from what I learned from the elders. Yet, I honestly couldn't tell you the answer to your last question, sorry Russetfur."

He watched his mentor as he spoke, yet when he said he couldn't answer her question, he lowered his gaze to look at the ground he stood upon. Leopardpaw hated not knowing the answer, so he plainly asked, "Could you tell me the answer Russetfur? I really would like to learn all I can about becoming a great warrior."

[Fernpaw]

"WindClan, well Russetfur, as we don't border with and they are located across the lake from us, I'd have to say I don't know anything, hardly. Although, WindClan mostly eat rabbits as they are the leanest of the Clans, as well as the swiftest, but that's only from what I learned from the elders. Yet, I honestly couldn't tell you the answer to your last question, sorry Russetfur."

The dark hearted warrior sniffed disdainfully at her apprentice and turned her fierce amber gaze on the young tom.

"Could you tell me the answer Russetfur? I really would like to learn all I can about becoming a great warrior."

"I don't know, can I?" the she-cat growled sarcastically. "Despite the fact that they live on the other side of the lake they are still our enemies and can and will still attack us. So taking that into account, why would a warrior want to know the strength of his enemies?"

Rather than wait for her apprentice to answer, Russetfur answered her own question. "You would want to know this information for when you are in battle with these cats. Right? How would you counter the swiftness of a WindClan cat? In other words, how can you make WindClan's strength a weakness?"

Feeling some compassion for the young cat since he had done well earlier and this was his first day, she leaned closer to Leopardpaw and added in a softer mew, "so now does this make sense to you, you stupid fur ball?" The red warrior's eyes glittered with amusement for a heart beat, but then the she-cat straightened up and waited for the spotted cat's reply as the patrol was within sight of the Clan camp.